Vodafone has head stuck in Smoke

Vodafone's top brass is relocating to London, in a move that apparently has nothing to do with not liking Newbury and everything to do with being closer to business partners and shareholders.

The Chief Executive Officer, Vittorio Colao, will be relocating along with 200 of his entourage in a move the company told us was part of a "dual-location HQ" strategy, that will, by coincidence, reduce the commuting time for Mr. Colao considerably.

Not that the CEO spends a lot of time in Newbury anyway - as the FT reports - Mr. Colao often uses the Company's offices in Park Lane, though he'll have to make the trek to Paddington in future as that's where the non-Newbury part of the HQ will henceforth be based.

At least Paddington should be less prone to flooding than the Newbury office, but given the number of people laid off from the offices over the last year or so it's hard to imagine the move is down to a lack of office space. ®